GenCon Indy 2008

Posts: 212 · Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:21 am

ExTSR wrote:

You mean, as soon as you showed up?

No,no, no--not my fault. I was talking about back bacon and grits. How it got to bovine reproductive parts is in no way my fault.
I've always wondered about some of the things people eat. For instance, just how hungry did that first guy get before he chose to eat an oyster? I can see it now... "Say, Ook, that looks like it might be good to eat." "I don't know, Mook; looks like something that came out of an ox's nose." "Mmmm, good! Try it Ook, you'll like it." Sheep brains, testicles, sweetbreads, tripe, head cheese, haggis...
Now there's another. Angus is sitting around hungry with not much to eat when his cousin Colin suggests that they stuff a sheep stomach (the only non-vegetable item left in the pantry) full of cereal grains and boil it for several hours. Mmmm, tasty... not. The whole reason the Scots invented that elaborate "cutting the haggis" ritual was to distract the guest from the idea that they we eating boiled oats from a sheep stomach.

Posts: 1117 · Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:31 am

Kaskoid wrote:

Now there's another. Angus is sitting around hungry with not much to eat when his cousin Colin suggests that they stuff a sheep stomach (the only non-vegetable item left in the pantry) full of cereal grains and boil it for several hours. Mmmm, tasty... not. The whole reason the Scots invented that elaborate "cutting the haggis" ritual was to distract the guest from the idea that they we eating boiled oats from a sheep stomach.

I've seen the suggestion put forward (humoursly) that all Scottish culture is based on a dare.

My SO, on the other hand, thinks it all evolved from one guy they liked getting drunk and playing practical jokes on. Wink

Posts: 605 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:42 am

g026r wrote:

I've seen the suggestion put forward (humoursly) that all Scottish culture is based on a dare.

In Southern culture, most men die right after saying, "Watch this!" Confused

Posts: 1200 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:44 am

benjoshua wrote:

In Southern culture, most men die right after saying, "Watch this!" Confused

Our local variant of that in this part of Canada is "Hold my beer and watch this!" Razz

Posts: 1117 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:07 am

You mean "Hold my beer and watch this, eh?" Razz

Posts: 2635 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:21 am

Kaskoid wrote:

I've always wondered about some of the things people eat.

Ya gotta wonder how they came up with various alchoholic beverages too. Let's take some grain, and let it rot in the sun a while...then drink it. Gotta be a dare.

Posts: 212 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:56 am

deimos3428 wrote:

Ya gotta wonder how they came up with various alchoholic beverages too. Let's take some grain, and let it rot in the sun a while...then drink it. Gotta be a dare.

Funny thing about beer: many, many historians and anthropologists refer to the earliest beers, around the time of Sumer and Akkad, as "liquid bread". When you see the recipes, you begin to understand why they drank it with straws-to keep from ingesting chunks of stuff. With water supplies being as spotty and dangerous as they were, alcoholic beverages, no matter how weak, seem to be a very wise alternative.
Back in the early-80's, or possibly very late 70's, before the advent of all the power drinks and Gatorade and the like, there was a study made in Germany by a bunch of their sports medicine types, about replenishing the body after strenuous exercise., Want to guess what came up as #1? Yup, you guessed it; beer. Which I immediately showed to my wife the nurse as justification for the beers we drank after softball games...lol.

Posts: 1117 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:04 am

I think you meant the lemur-man, not me. Wink

Posts: 212 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:31 am

Yer right. Sorry; changed it.
How I could possibly mistake a ring-tailed lemur for a Great Horned Canadian Ibex is beyond me...

Posts: 1200 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:44 am

Curious enough the Chaosium monograph that I am writing at the moment deals with victorian age Sudan.

The tribes in the south have been brewing beer from millet and sorghum for ages. Travelers describe it as having a "pea-soup consistency." Yum. Shocked

Considering the number of waterborne diseases in Equatorial Africa that is more than likely the primary reason for the beer.

Posts: 592 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:55 am

Interestingly enough, Medieval brewing was one of the few occupations largely done by women - "ale-wives".

Cheers,
Malc

Posts: 2635 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:02 pm

Kaskoid wrote:

Yer right. Sorry; changed it.
How I could possibly mistake a ring-tailed lemur for a Great Horned Canadian Ibex is beyond me...

Well, we're both Canadian. It's a common mistake.

Another interesting tidbit: humans are not the only primate to get drunk. Other great apes (I think chimps or orangs, but I forget) have been observed seeking out and consuming large quantities of naturally-fermented fruit, with alcohol contents as high as 5%. So drinking is both natural and good for you!

[edit]Ok, here's the link.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_10_113/ai_n8640726

Posts: 212 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:55 pm

deimos3428 wrote:

Another interesting tidbit: humans are not the only primate to get drunk.

Tippling is not limited to primates. I saw recently on TV (can't remember show; one of the negatives of cable) where elephants will make great journeys of several days to be in vicinity of certain trees that drop already-fermented fruits. It's quite a sight to see elephants so hammered that they have to lean against trees to keep from falling over.

Posts: 2635 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:21 pm

Kaskoid wrote:

Tippling is not limited to primates. I saw recently on TV (can't remember show; one of the negatives of cable) where elephants will make great journeys of several days to be in vicinity of certain tress that drop already-fermented fruits. It's quite a sight to see elephants so hammered that they have to lean against trees to keep from falling over.

Ooh, new extreme sport -- elephant tipping.

Posts: 212 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:58 pm

deimos3428 wrote:

Ooh, new extreme sport -- elephant tipping

Be sure to let us know how that works out, OK?

Posts: 1346 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:18 pm

OK, so, when can one reasonably expect to receive notice on how to purchase one of those posters?

Posts: 212 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:02 pm

One can PM me at tkask@cinci.rr.com and we will work out the details such as shipping. Be sure and put EGG Poster in subject line so I can fish you out of the spam folder.

Posts: 2556 · Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:38 pm

For anyone who is interested, the auction results have been posted on the GenCon forums:

http://community.gencon.com/forums/t/18221.aspx

There are links to excel spreadsheets for both the regular and the charity auctions.

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:42 pm

Any highlights that haven't already been mentioned?

Posts: 2338 · Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:43 am

It looks like there was a lot of interesting things:

RPGA bucks 1983
RPGA Belt Buckle
Tom Wham's TSR belt buckle
5 or 6 Wee Warriors items
Adventures in Fantasy - playtest edition

Also interesting that a number of the signed Lejendary Adventures books sold for $70+.